The Magnificent Eight
by Gallyrat
Summary: In a world where the elemental nations were influenced not by Feudal Japan but by the Old West, outlaws Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame begin the fight of their lives when they kidnap the heiress of Hyuga Railroad Co. Pursued by adversaries on both sides of the law, it will take all their cunning, skill, and luck to survive.
1. Two Jacks and A Queen

**Book One**

**Chapter I**

**Two Jacks and Queen**

It was a wonderful day. The sun was bright, the sky clear. The day's earlier rain had left it cool, and kept the normally aggravating dust and sand anchored to the ground. Occasionally, tiny rainbows could be seen dancing in what remained of the showers. It was what Hinata had imagined the west to be when her father had first announced they would be moving.

Under normal circumstances, she would've sat outside for hours, soaking it all in. Unfortunately, these were not normal circumstances, and Hinata, instead of sitting comfortably in a lawn chair while sipping lemonade poured by Ko, found herself tied roughly to the back of a particularly skittish horse.

"Hurry up you stupid horse!" Screamed the man in front of her. No, not man. Not exactly - the...boy was only a few years older than she was, and maybe not even that. "Shino!" He shouted. "Are we losing them?"

His partner, whom Hinata had a nice view of from her uncomfortable position, threw a look over his shoulder and spurred his own horse faster. "Not exactly!"

"Shit!" the boy shouted. "Shit, shit, shit! Shino, this was a horrible idea!"

Hinata wanted to tell them that if they let her go now they could ride off into the sunset no harm done - but she couldn't. Mainly because there was an absolutely disgusting sock in her mouth, preventing her from doing anything other than moan, but also because it wasn't true. Her father may have deemed her a failure, unfit to head the family empire, but he would allow no insult to his family. If her kidnappers stopped, they would be killed.

"Dear Almighty Will of Fire," the boy said to himself, "it's your humble servant, Kiba Inuzuka."

There was a soft whine.

"And Akamaru too," Kiba added. Hinata jerked her head around to see a small coyote pup poking its head over Kiba's shoulder, giving her a curious stare. "We never wanted any trouble, we promise. We just wanted a good life for our families. If you kill us now, think about how poor, innocent Hana will suffer."

He paused for a moment.

"Well maybe Hana's a bad example. But please Lord, Akamaru's just a puppy. He ain't done anything wrong. Please don't-" his prayer was abruptly cut off by a gunshot whizzing by his ear. "Oh fuck! Oh shit! Shino!"

"I know!" His partner shouted back. "We're not going to be able to lose them! I'm going to show them my bugs!"

"Oh shit that is a bad idea! That is a bad idea!" Kiba shouted but Shino wasn't listening. The outlaw had grabbed a large rifle that was slung across his back, and wheeled his horse abruptly around.

Hinata twisted her neck to see what was going to happen. Shino brought the rife to his shoulder and fired - a loud, high pitched whine filled the air, like a swarm of tiny bugs, and one of her father's men fell from his horse with a scream of pain and flash of crimson. Hinata shut her eyes tight, but that didn't prevent her from hearing the same fate befall another one of her would be rescuers.

Kiba, still screaming obscenities, wheeled his own horse around. There was the sound of a gun cocking, and then several loud pistol shots threatened to deafen the young Hyuga.

Then utter silence.

Kiba whooped, and Hinata cracked open her eyes. The horse had stopped, and both Kiba and Shino were on their feet - Kiba doing a happy little dance, Shino making sure her father's men weren't just playing dead.

"We kidnapped an heiress! We kidnapped an heiress! Look at me now Dad!" Kiba shouted to the sky. He leaped up into the air in an attempt to click his heels together, but instead fell to the ground face first.

Hinata wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hiruzen Sarutobi, mayor of New Leaf Town (where you can turn over a new leaf) called his Sheriff into his office.

Danzo Shimura was a ruthless, cunning, and dangerous man. Hiruzen knew that his old friend still harbored the desire to take his job, and he didn't like having him in a position of such power in the town, but the fact remained that Danzo was simply the best there was at keeping order. If only things had gone differently on that one raid, then maybe...

But that was the past. The present had its own problems.

"I just got a telegraph from Hiashi Hyuga," Hiruzen said, as Danzo took a seat in the chair across from him.

The sheriff scratched at bandages that covered his missing eye. "The railroad tycoon?"

"The railroad tycoon," Hiruzen said with a nod. "His oldest daughter was apparently kidnapped by a pair of outlaws. Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka. Ring any bells?"

Danzo grunted. "Those bastard kids are still alive? I thought I killed them with the rest of the Magnificent Eight."

"Apparently not," Hiruzen said. "Hiashi messaged to inform me that he's offering a very generous reward for her return."

"How generous, exactly?"

Hiruzen told him.

Danzo blinked once, then twice, then a third time. "That...is very generous indeed. I'll put my best men on it immediately."

"Do it quickly," Hiruzen said. "Hiashi also informed me that he had Kakashi on her tail."

Danzo frowned. "And wherever that blasted bounty hunter is, Might Guy is there to try and upstage him. That's some heavy duty competition."

"I trust you'll be able to handle it. Oh, and Danzo?"

"Yeah?" Danzo asked, pausing at the door.

"I would like you to include your newest deputy on this assignment. As a personal favor to me."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Hiruzen smiled slightly. "Believe it."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hinata had always enjoyed camping trips. Or at least, she had always enjoyed the idea of camping trips. She loved the thought of eating next to a roaring fire, roasting marshmallows, trading ghost stories, and falling asleep under the stars. Her father would never allow her to do anything as…common as camping. Before now, she had resented him for it.

But now she realized he had been right. Camping was a miserable activity, and if she ever got out of this situation alive she would spend the rest of her life sleeping in a proper bed under a roof.

Another gust of freezing wind bit through her light dress, and she began shivering uncontrollably, huddling closer to the meager fire in an attempt to fend off the night air. She knew that desert nights were cold, but this was ridiculous.

The worst part was that her kidnappers didn't even seem to notice it. They sat on the opposite side of the fire, too busy digging into small cans of beans to talk.

Now that the initial craziness of the kidnapping was past, Hinata had managed to take stock of her captors. They were both only about a year older than her – seventeen, eighteen at the oldest. The wild one, the one that had actually grabbed her, and tied her to the horse, was Kiba Inuzuka. He had a red tattoo on each cheek that looked like a fang. He was dressed in mostly greys and browns, with a furry bandana tied around his neck. An oversized revolver was slung low on his hip, and seemed to be the only clean thing within ten feet of him.

The other one, the calmer one, was Shino Aburame. Hinata had pegged him as the brains of the operation. He was slightly taller than Kiba, with wild hair that seemed to stick straight up. His clothes were muted green, almost an olive, and he wore a bandana that covered the lower portion of his face – he didn't even remove it to eat. His rifle was a long, angular, disjointed looking weapon that he had laid carefully beside him.

They had taken the disgusting sock out of her mouth a few minutes ago so that she could eat, but since they had declined to untie her hands or feet she was forced to bend low over the beans-on-a-pan and eat them with her mouth like a dog. Strands of hair kept getting in her mouth, something Kiba seemed to find incredibly hilarious.

She had not said one word to them since they had ungagged her. She hoped she was projecting a calm, nonplussed image, but just below the surface she was terrified. She felt that they knew it too, which was why they were waiting for her to speak first.

Well, they could have their little victory. She was too tired and scared for these mind games; she had enough of those to look forward to when/if she got home.

"Wh-what are g-g-going to do with me?" She asked. She couldn't tell if her stuttering was from her own fear or the cold – probably the former.

Kiba and Shino exchanged glances, Kiba's shoulders shaking with barely suppressed laughter. Shino rolled his eyes (or at least, Hinata assumed he had – she couldn't see his eyes) and answered her question.

"We're not going to hurt you, if that's what you're asking," he said, calmly scooping up a spoonful of beans and somehow getting the food past his bandana. "We'll send your father our demands in the morning. Then we make the trade. He gets you, we get the money, and everyone walks away happy."

Hinata shook her head. They were just so _wrong_. They had no idea what her father was like, the lengths he would go through to make sure they would pay for what they had done. "H-He won't g-give you the money. He d-doesn't give in to cr-criminals." She took a deep, shuddering breath, huddling closer to the fire.

Shino observed her coolly and made no move to help. "We will get the money. We are running out of options and cannot afford to allow this venture to be a waste of our time." He took another mouthful of beans. "If your father will not pay for your release, there are others that would want their hands on the Hyuga heiress."

Hinata shivered, but this time it wasn't from the cold.

Shino shrugged. "It pains me to say this, but your well being is significantly less important to us than getting the money we need. We may even be forced to contact the Indigo Witch, though even the thought of her puts a bad taste in my mouth."

"Th-The Indigo W-W-W-Witch?"

Kiba grinned, showing far too many teeth to be completely normal. "One of the most dangerous outlaws this side of the Bridge of Heaven and Earth. They say she steals your mind with poisons and pills. And she's always looking for girls to buy."

Hinata swallowed. "So you are b-b-both slavers."

"We're survivors," Shino said. "We made a regrettable decision a year or so ago and now it is coming back to haunt us. If that makes us monsters, so be it. Better a live monster than a dead hero."

Hinata wanted to shout and scream at them. She wanted to tell them that they were cowards that they were assholes that she hoped her father's men found them and killed them slowly.

Instead she rolled over and tried her best to hold back the tears.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hinata awoke to Kiba grabbing her and tossing her over his shoulder. She let out a tired eep, but didn't bother fighting him as he strapped her down to the back of his horse. Not that the horse made it easy for him – a steady stream of curses fell from his mouth as he attempted to keep the thing still for more than a few seconds at a time. It was a welcome bit of comedy in the drama that had so suddenly engulfed Hinata's life.

The ride was long and uncomfortable, with no-one speaking. By the time Hinata could see the blurry outline of a village on the horizon, the sun was beginning to set once again. Kiba slowed his horse to a trot but Shino kept riding full speed into the village.

Eventually Kiba pulled to a full stop alongside a canyon wall, sighing and dismounting from his horse. His coyote pup, Akamaru, leapt out of his shirt and onto the dusty ground, running around in circles and yipping excitedly. Kiba laughed, and the spectacle almost made Hinata smile.

A few minutes passed with no noise but the wind and Akamaru's panting, until finally Hinata couldn't stand it anymore. "Why are you doing this?" She asked Kiba. The silence was killing her. She had to speak. And if she couldn't change the hand fate had dealt her, she could at least understand.

Kiba plopped down on the ground and picked up a small rock, lobbing it at her. She flinched as it bounced harmlessly off her head. "Why're you so keen on talking?" He asked. "We'll be partin' ways soon enough."

He did not speak like anyone Hinata had ever met. He lacked the cultured, almost aristocratic tone she had grown up with. It had a different rhythm, a different cadence, and it grated against Hinata's nerves. He spoke like he had never been taught how to speak, had simply picked it up one day and decided it was a useful tool. Hinata knew better. She knew that speaking was an art, and that how someone spoke could tell everything about someone whether they wanted it to or not. Kiba's voice told her everything, or at least everything she needed to know. It told her that he was an uneducated, uncouth, unintelligent asshole that had no idea how to properly speak to a lady and would never, ever amount to anything in his pathetic and most likely short life.

She did her best to stare daggers at him, the way her father could when he got particularly upset. Judging by the smirk on Kiba's face, she failed miserably.

"Shino told you already," he said, shrugging. He took his brown hat off to reveal a mess of unruly brown hair and scratched at the stubble beginning to gather around his mouth and chin. "We borrowed some money, and now we need to pay it back. Pretty simple stuff."

"Who did you borrow money from?" Hinata asked. She only barely noticed that she wasn't stuttering anymore. She wasn't afraid of these boys. They were desperate, down to their last chip, and she was the Ace they had managed to slip out of their sleeves when nobody was watching. They couldn't afford to waste this.

"None'a your business," Kiba said with a scowl. Akamaru curled up in his lap and gave a sleepy yawn.

Hinata bit back a sharp retort about how it _was_ her business because if he and Shino hadn't been idiots and borrowed money they couldn't repay they never would've dragged her into this waking nightmare. Instead, she ground her teeth and asked to go to the bathroom.

Kiba groaned and stood up, untying the ropes that bound her to the horse but not the ones that held her hands and feet. They had given her feet a little slack so that she could waddle around fairly effectively, but her wrists were tied so tightly she was half afraid they would stay deathly pale forever.

"Just don't try and run, right?" Kiba said, turning around to give her some privacy.

Hinata entertained the notion for a brief moment but ultimately decided against it. The town was just too far away – she would never be able to get close enough for the people to hear her before Kiba ran her down. She sighed and went to the bathroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It was dark before Shino got back, horse loaded up with supplies and a grim expression on his face. "I spoke to her father," he said.

"And?" Kiba asked, looking up excitedly from where Akamaru was curled up in his lap. "When is he gonna give us the money?"

"He…isn't," Shino said with a frown.

Hinata's heart simultaneously leaped and shuddered. Kiba and Shino were beginning to realize they had bitten off more than they could chew but…they were already desperate. How far could they be pushed before they went over the ledge completely?

"What the fuck?" Kiba asked. "That fucking asshole won't pay ransom for his own fucking daughter?"

"Apparently not," Shino said. "He also informed me that he had the authorities and several bounty hunters after us. There is quite the generous reward on our heads."

Kiba groaned. "Well that's just fucking great. Did you talk to any other buyers?"

"Yes," Shino said with a nod. "However, none of them were willing to pay our price. They insist that the risk in taking her makes her much less valuable."

Kiba swallowed, his fists literally shaking in anger. "Then what are we gonna do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Shino asked, sitting down by the crude fire Kiba had made. "We're going to the Indigo Witch."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto Uzumaki adjusted his hat. It was a very nice hat, in his opinion. It was a white hat, the kind heroes in stories wore, but his had a nice orange band around the base of the crown, which he thought gave it a nice personal flair.

But his most notable piece of attire was of course his bright orange duster. It was a bit too large for him and hung nearly down to his knees but he rarely took the thing off – he had worn it so long it was almost a part of him. He wore a blue bandana around his neck for the particularly windy days, and his white dress shirt was a gift from the mayor. It fit him perfectly, and though he had only begun wearing it recently it was quickly becoming part of his iconic outfit. He wore his weapons slung low on his hips, two belts held together by a buckle with the New Leaf Town symbol engraved on it. The guns were experimental, able to spray dozens of bullets with a single squeeze of the trigger, and Naruto was forced to carry several boxes full of extra ammo. He had become quite adept at reloading – in fact it was the only thing he could truly claim as his specialty. On his back hung a cavalry sabre in an old beat up leather sheath.

Naruto adjusted his hat again. The wind was really getting going. Luckily there wasn't too much dirt and sand, so the most annoying thing was the way the wind seemed determined to claim his hat for its own.

New Leaf Town's newest deputy rode several feet behind three other horses, which were occupied by Sheriff Shimura and Senior Deputies Kamizuki and Hagane.

"We've travelled far enough," Sheriff Shimura said, dismounting his horse. "We'll be stopping here for the night. Everyone get ready to pitch tent."

"We're stopping _already_?" Naruto asked. "Come on, we've barely gotten started! Look, Kurama's still got plenty of energy!" He slapped his horse's side, and the animal reared up a bit, neighing excitedly. "We can put in a few more hours!"

The Sheriff took a deep breath and closed his one eye – Naruto recognized it as his 'tired of this bullshit' face and prepared himself for a verbal smack down.

But to his surprise, the verbal smack down never came. "Alright Deputy Uzumaki," the Sheriff said, "Since you and your horse are ready to keep going, I'm going to let you."

Naruto blinked once. "Really?"

"Really," the Sheriff said with a nod. "You've been bugging me non-stop to give you a real mission, and now you have it." He pointed in the northeastern direction. "We know the kidnappers were heading vaguely north. So you can take the northeast, and we'll take north and northwest. Cover more ground that way. You can send us radio messages when you reach towns."

Naruto's grin spread so wide it threatened to split his face in two. "Thank you sir!" He shouted, giving Danzo a sloppy salute. "You won't be disappointed! I'm gonna find those criminals and bring them to justice! You can believe it!" Without waiting for a response, he wheeled Kurama around and slapped the reigns against the horse's back. Kurama reared up again, an enormous red horse that seemed to sparkle in the setting sun, and took of at speeds that would make a professional racehorse green with envy. "WHEEEEEEEEEEE-HOOOOOOOOOO!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"He's gonna die, isn't he?" Deputy Hagane asked as they watched the blonde streak off into the quickly approaching night.

Danzo shrugged. "We should set up camp."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It was long past closing time when the deputy from New Leaf Town stumbled into the clinic.

Sakura may have been new to the job but she knew a bad wound when she saw one. The deputy was clutching at his poorly bandaged hand and mumbling something about a pair of outlaws called the "Demon Brothers".

"One of them came at me with a knife," he explained as she unwrapped the tape. "He got me across the palm but I got him in the chest with one of my guns. The other one ran away. Then the wound starts hurting like hell – like, more like hell than it was before – and I knew something was up." He spoke in a typical western accent – not as strong as some people on the western side of the Bridge of Heaven and Earth, but noticeable to a city girl like her. Or former city girl anyway.

Sakura arched an eyebrow as she eyed the mottled blue and green flesh around a deep gash in his palm. "Yes, it looks like poison." She prodded the area around the wound a few times with her fingers. "Can you feel that?"

"No."

"How about here?" She asked, poking the inside of his wrist a few times.

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"And here?" She said, poking his forearm. "How long ago was this fight anyway?"

"Can't feel it. And maybe an hour or two. I rode Kurama as hard as I could but we were quite a ways out."

Sakura frowned and tapped his shoulder. "Please tell me you can feel this." The deputy nodded and she immediately went to the medicine cabinet, sorting through the variety of bottles stored there. "Alright. So the poison is spreading through your system fairly quickly. Normally I'd run a few tests to see what exactly it is, but time is running short and we don't have that luxury." She grabbed several bottles and about a half dozen of her largest needles, along with a bit of leather. "So I'm going to pump you full of common antidotes and we pray to the Sage that something works." She gave him the bit of leather. "You might want to put this in your mouth."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Several scream and throw up filled hours later, Naruto (Sakura had asked him his name in a futile attempt to distract him from a particularly painful injection) was slumped up against the wall, guzzling down water and nursing a mostly numb arm.

"Well, you're not dead," Sakura said, carefully applying fresh bandages to his wound. "That's a plus."

"I wish I was dead," Naruto groaned.

Sakura slapped him lightly on the uninjured arm. "Don't even joke about that," she said. "It isn't true and I won't hear it." She wound her hair up into a bun and secured it with a rubber band. "You just need some rest, ok?"

"Ok," Naruto agreed, yawning and resting his head against the wall. "Hey," he said, his eyelids fluttering, "I just wanted to say thanks for saving my life. That was pretty awesome." He tried to say more, but before he had the chance he was overtaken by sleep.

Sakura smiled, leaning her forehead against the window. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, a hundred different shades of pink and orange.


	2. Twenty Two Card Deck

**Book One**

**Chapter II**

**22 Card Deck **

"I can't stand seeing you like this."

"That doesn't mean you have to go."

The lovers stood outside the stables, only barely able to see each other through the late night dark. The man drew the woman close and kissed her on the forehead, gently, and then pushed her away, even more gently.

"It does," he said to her. "I know how much she means to you. You've raised that girl like your own daughter, and to have her taken like that…" he shook his head. "It isn't right. And every time I see you cry the urge to help you just grows and grows until I…" he smiled sadly, "it becomes too big to fight."

The woman cupped his face with both hands. "Just…don't lose yourself out there."

He kissed her hand and then swung himself up onto his horse. "I won't. Not again. I have you to ground me this time, remember?"

She smiled. "I love you, Asuma."

"I love you, Kurenai."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm just saying," Kiba said as they rode, " the level of bullshit we are dealing with right now is ridiculous. I thought the actual kidnapping was supposed to be the hard part. Right now it's looking like sunshine and fucking daisies compared to what we're about to go through."

He had been ranting like this for several hours, beginning suddenly after a full day of sullen silence. Hinata found herself much preferring the ranting – it was nice to see her captors sweat a little.

"Look," Shino said. "You know nobody hates the Witch more than I do."

Kiba rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"And you know that if there were any other option, we would take it."

Kiba nodded again.

"Fate dealt us a bad hand," Shino said with a shrug. "We thought we had an ace in the hole, but it turned out to be more like a…a Queen in the hole. We can still win this, if we keep our heads on straight."

Kiba exhaled heavily. "You're…right."

"As always."

Kiba tried to reach out and swat his partner, but they were too far apart and he only managed to slip from his saddle, only barely catching himself before falling completely. Shino began shaking with silent laughter as the Inuzuka boy pulled himself up onto his horse, swearing loudly.

Hinata giggled despite herself and then sighed, closing her eyes and trying to wish the stiffness in her neck away. Her captors had finally changed her position – she was no longer tied stomach down to the back of the horse but was sitting behind Shino, her wrists tied behind her back and her legs fastened securely to the saddle. Her neck was aching but her only option was to either rest her head on the back of Shino's shoulder – which was simply not an option – or grit her teeth and bare it.

Well, she had been gritting her teeth and baring it all her life. A little more wouldn't kill her.

The Indigo Witch was a few days of travel away, if Shino and Kiba's chats were any indication. They were pushing it though, that much was obvious from the way they were running their horses ragged, and Hinata reasoned that they would arrive at the mysterious woman's abode either the next day or the day after that.

She didn't know how she was going to escape. She didn't know if she could escape. The two boys had been very careful to give her no opportunity, never taking her near villages and often having one scout ahead to better avoid travellers. Her best hope at this point was that one of the many rescuers her father had mobilized found her before they had the chance to sell her to the Indigo Witch.

Talks between the boys had revealed an awful lot about the Witch – emphasis on the awful. She dealt in vices, mostly sex, though she wasn't exactly picky. Drugs, alcohol, gambling – anything could be found at her "Coven", which was surprisingly well hidden for something so notorious. Men or women who thought to turn her over to the law always just seemed to end up…no longer a problem.

"I mean, at least it isn't all bad," Kiba said, dragging Hinata back to reality. "The Witch might be an evil whore but at least she's a totally bangin' evil whore."

Shino sighed and jerked his shoulders a little – Hinata had found that he did that in place of rolling his eyes, since his dark sunglasses prevented anyone from noticing that particular expression of annoyance.

"What…does that even mean?" She asked Kiba. Her voice was hoarse and dry – she hadn't had a decent sip of water in what felt like days.

Kiba frowned, presumably pondering how best to answer the question. "Well," he said eventually, scrutinizing her for a moment, "I reckon you're 'fairly bangable. Which ain't bad, don't get me wrong, but it's at least two or three levels under 'totally bangin'."

Hinata scowled. "You have levels? Is this some sort of inane system for rating girls based on attractiveness?"

Kiba opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. "I…uh…don't understand the question?"

"It is," Shino said. "He's had it ever since we were kids. It's completely ridiculous, but it keeps him occupied."

Kiba stuck out his tongue. "The levels are great. There are fifteen of them and they go from 'wouldn't bang it with a ten foot poll', to 'Goddess level bangin'."

"It's idiotic," Hinata shot back. "First of all, fifteen levels are far too many. Can you even count that high?"

Kiba shot her the bird.

"Second of all," Hinata continued, pain in her neck completely forgotten by now, "your levels are completely arbitrary. Nobody could possibly understand them unless you spent hours describing each level in detail."

"Shino understands them," Kiba said.

"That's because you've spent hours describing each level in detail to me," Shino deadpanned. "And I'm still a little fuzzy on the difference between 'two in the morning and I'm really drunk bangin' and 'none of my friends are around bangin'."

Hinata nodded. "Exactly. You need to make something that anyone can understand."

"Like numbers," Shino suggested. "Most everybody understands numbers. It can even work just like your levels – the more attractive they are, the higher number they receive."

Kiba was listening now, nodding slowly as Shino spoke. "Right! I could do it from one to ten! Momma always said that ten was a good number. It's how many fingers you have."

Akamaru yipped.

"And claws!" Kiba said. "Good point Akamaru."

Sometimes Hinata wondered if Kiba really could understand that pup.

"It's settled then," Shino said, his voice comically serious and pompous. "By executive order, Kiba's stupidly complicated "fifteen levels of female attractiveness" have been replaced with "a sliding scale of hotness", from one to ten."

Kiba laughed, and Hinata giggled slightly. This was the kind of thing she had always wanted to do with Hanabi but…couldn't.

"So, by the new scale," Kiba said, taking his hat off and shaking the dust loose before putting it back on his head, "You're like a…seven, Hinata, and the Witch would be like a nine and a half."

"Only a seven?" Shino asked, his normally emotionless voice carrying a tint of amusement. "You wound our lady guest, Kiba. Surely she deserves more than a measly seven."

"Fuck you, a seven's good," Kiba said. He frowned, his face scrunching up in momentary concentration. "Fine, a seven and a half. Don't expect me to go any higher than that though!" He smirked. "Sides, she's too prude. I'll bet she ain't even done nothin' yet."

Hinata felt her face heat up, despite her best attempts to hide it. "I…I…"

Kiba let out a bark of laughter. "Look at her face! Like a damn tomato! Told you she was prude Shino!"

"For your information," Hinata said, drawing herself up in her best imitation of her father, her face doing its best to slide into the haughty mask he so often wore, "I have in fact 'done somethin', Mr. Inuzuka."

Wait, what?

BytheSagewhydidshe_saythat_. She had meant to say something about how a true lady saved herself until marriage (as that was what was right and proper, and what she planned to do) but at the last moment the lie had just…slipped out.

Kiba gaped openly. Even Shino seemed slightly taken aback – Hinata could tell by the way he leaned forward and turned his head to get a brief glimpse at her.

"Well I'll be damned," Kiba said. "And here I thought all them eastern boys were pussies." He chewed his lip for a moment. "Unless he was a western boy, which would make a lot more sense."

"H-He…he was fr-from the w-west," Hinata said, her stutter coming back full force. Her cheeks felt like they were absolutely on fire, but her kidnappers were too busy processing this new revelation to notice.

Kiba chuckled. "Figures. Who was he? Maybe Shino and I know him." He frowned. "Aw, don't _tell_ me it was that Uchiha dick!"

"U-U-Uchiha?" Hinata asked. The question seemed to calm Kiba down, and he waved her off.

"Nothin' important. But you gotta tell us who now, it's the rules."

Hinata wasn't sure what the "rules" were but she was fairly sure they didn't apply to her and she was one hundred percent certain she wasn't going to tell either of them anything. She would not allow this lie to spiral out of control.

"H-He was from N-New Leaf T-Town," she heard herself say. Apparently her mouth had decided to go ahead and wing it. Never mind all those thoughts she had jut had, how about she just blurt out whatever little thought pops into her head? "H-He w-w-was a d-deputy there."

"Well shit," Kiba said. "A deputy! Shoulda guessed she'd go for the goody two shoes type, eh Shino?"

Shino silently nodded his agreement.

Hinata, meanwhile, slapped her hands over her mouth in a desperate attempt to stop herself from saying anything more. No matter how cute she had found Deputy Uzumaki, no matter what she _wished_ they had done…no, this was a horrible train of thought, she was going to distract herself by focusing on the pain in her neck now.

Sweet, glorious, agonizing pain.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a day before the girl caught up with Asuma, shouting his name from atop her horse. It was a monster of a horse, far too big for a little girl – the best money could buy. Hanabi Hyuga was never one to accept second best.

"What are you doing here?" Asuma asked. He wasn't really surprised, and to be quite honest knew why she was on that horse, but he wanted to hear her justification.

"Those criminals shamed my family when they kidnapped my sister," Hanabi said. "Father must stay behind to run the business but I am under no such restrictions. I am free to personally teach them what happens when you cross the Hyuga."

"You're also thirteen," Asuma pointed out. "Go home, Hanabi. You aren't ready for the West."

"I'm ready for anything," Hanabi said. "I can read, write, and do arithmetic – better than you can, I might add. I'm just as good a shot as any of my father's men. I've been riding just as long as I've been walking. I know first aid, an Indian language, and even how to play the piano. Name one thing the West could throw at me that I couldn't handle."

Asuma rolled his eyes and wheeled his horse around. "I don't take orders from you Hanabi. I'm not required to take you anywhere. Just…go home."

"Do _not _ride away from me Asuma Sarutobi."

Asuma stopped.

He turned his horse around.

He took a deep breath.

"Who else knows?" He asked finally.

"Just my father," she said. "And Kurenai, of course, but you told her yourself. You honestly thought my father would employ and not realize who you really were?"

Asuma shrugged. "It's been a while. I thought if I left Asuma Sarutobi behind, maybe the rest of the world would too."

"The world does not simply leave people behind, Asuma," Hanabi said with a contemptuous smirk. "Not five years ago you were terrorizing the West with the rest of your band of ruffians…what did you call yourselves? The Magnificent Eight?"

Asuma said nothing.

"I'm glad you finally decided to go find them," Hanabi said. "They are after all, your responsibility. You taught them everything they know."

"I made mistakes," Asuma admitted. "I made a lot of them. But I'm a better man than that now. My place wasn't with them."

"Indeed it was not," Hanabi said. "Your place is by Kurenai's side. It is under my father. Your place is to aid my family. You will do it by searching for my sister and by protecting me as I do the same. Do that, and I'm sure we can find a way to get your foster brother pardoned."

Asuma chuckled. "Shikamaru won't accept a pardon just like that."

Hanabi waved a hand dismissively. "Then we'll pardon his friend too. The bottom line is, Asuma, that you are going to help me find my sister and bring her back. And things will work out wonderfully for the both of us." She held out a hand. "Deal?"

Asuma sighed.

_Like father like daughter_.

"Deal."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"You can't be serious," Sakura said, pouring both herself and Naruto a glass of whisky. "Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame? Those two kidnapped the heiress of The Hyuga Railroad Corporation?"

Naruto nodded, taking a sip of whiskey and doing his best not to make a face. The drink was not his favorite, but Sakura seemed to like it and he didn't want her to think he couldn't handle a real drink. "Why? You know them?"

"Well, I don't," Sakura said. "But everyone else does. They grew up here, you know. Apparently they left a couple years ago, but those stories…" she chuckled. "They used to call themselves the Olive Rogue and the Bronze Outlaw. Would stir up trouble all over the place. They sounded like two crazy kids."

"They grew up here?" Naruto asked. "What about their families? Maybe I can ask them where their kids might be."

Sakura shook her head and poured them both some more whiskey. "They moved away when their kids left. The Aburames were actually doctors – they used to own this clinic. I just picked it up when I moved here from out East."

Naruto nodded. He noticed that his glass was empty, and that his thoughts were getting a little fuzzy. He felt around his head for his hat. It was there. Excellent. He must never lose that hat. It was a very important hat.

He was vaguely aware of time passing, of drinks being drunk and words being said and a bond being formed. Naruto had never really had a friend. Well, Shikamaru and Chouji maybe. Asuma, when he could be bothered. The Hyuga girls had agreed that they were friends after he had finished escorting her caravan to her mansion in Caged Bird Springs. The older one did, anyway. The younger one had just sort of cocked her eyebrow and sighed irritably, which was still a sort-of-win in Naruto's book.

Eventually the whiskey ran dry. They drew straws to see who was going to stumble down the road to the bar to pick up some more. Naruto lost. He briefly wondered if the bar was going to be open so late at night, but then realized he didn't have to worry as he opened the door and got hit by a blast of midday sun.

They had sort of lost track of the time. Thankfully, the Will of Fire had ensured that nobody needed to see a doctor, because Sakura was notably out of commission.

So Naruto stumbled down the road, one hand clapped solidly over his eyes and the other waving wildly in front of him in an attempt to keep from running into anything. He was only mildly successful.

Luckily, the bar was much less bright, as bars usually were. This one was in good repair all things considered – it lacked the warmth and good cheer of Ichiraku's Bar back in New Leaf Town, but Naruto could hardly hold that against them. A few men played poker on a table off to the side, and in the back corner someone played a decent sounding song on a rusted old piano. Mildly attractive bargirls served drinks and smacked a few of the more uppity patrons. All was well.

"Bottle….bottle of….bottle of….bottle of whiskey, please, sir….bottle of…." Naruto said, collapsing onto a stool. The bartender sighed and reluctantly pried out of Naruto's hand the money the deputy was offering, heading off to the back to grab the bottle.

"You're not from around here," said a voice from Naruto's left.

Naruto blinked at the fuzzy figure a few times before it came into view. It was a girl…no, a boy, a very feminine boy. His skin was dark, and his long, braided hair even more so. A Native then. Crazy people, with their tribes and prophecies and supposed magic juju.

"Neither are you….by the….looks….neither…by the looks of it," Naruto said.

The Native smiled. "It's true. I am not from around here, or anywhere near here in fact."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was an unintelligible moan.

The Native nodded as if he knew what Naruto was trying to convey, despite it all. "I am here because there is a person who is very important to me. His goals, are my goals. His wants, my wants. Do you understand, friend?"

Naruto most certainly did not understand. He attempted to inform the Native by moving his shoulders in a very basic imitation of a shrug.

This caused the Native to smile, though he covered it quickly with his hand. "You will understand. You too will have important people, people you love more than life itself. And because of those people, you will do great and terrible things…the stars tell us this. The birds sing of what is to come." He reached into his pocket and placed a pack of playing cards on the bar in front of Naruto. "I believe these are yours."

Naruto frowned. They were not his. Even his alcohol addled brain could realize that he had never seen those cards before in his life. They were held together with a piece of twine, and the backs were white with large gold spirals in the center. It was a very nice deck of cards. He would remember owning something like that.

The Native slid a card out of the deck, seemingly at random, and looked at it. This card was different from the others – the back of it was a loud, bright orange, the exact same shade as the duster he wore. Naruto immediately liked that card. It was his new favorite card.

"The Jack of Hearts," the Native said, nodding. "Yes, that makes sense." He laughed very softly. "Best of luck, Naruto Uzumaki."

By the time Naruto stumbled back out of the bar, bottle of whisky in hand, he had almost forgotten the Native completely. Only the strange pack of cards in his duster pocket reminded him that the entire thing wasn't a very odd dream.


	3. Queen of Spades

**Book One**

**Chapter III**

**Indigo Witch**

The Coven was not at all what Hinata had expected. And yet, looking at it, it seemed ridiculous to think it ever could've been anything else.

The entrance was simple. Designed to mirror an abandon mineshaft, there was a heavy wooden door with a flood of "keep out" signs posted around it. Kiba and Shino ignored the signs, walking their horses directly up to the entrance. Hinata was once again gagged, but with a mercifully clean rag this time, and despite the overwhelming fear of her imminent fate, she was morbidly curious about this mysterious Indigo Witch.

Kiba dismounted and strode purposefully up to the door, knocking on it in a steady, distinctive patter.

_Rap. Rap. Rap rap rap. Rap. Rap. Rap rap rap. _

A moment later, a small peephole slid open, revealing a set of beady black eyes. Kiba crossed his arm and stared down the man behind the door. "Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. We have a delivery for her Witchiness."

"Lemme see it," the man behind the door replied in a low, guttural voice.

Kiba rolled his eyes but reluctantly walked back over to his horse and pulled Hinata down. She grunted in pain as her feet hit the ground but shuffled over to the door with no complaint.

The man behind the door took a quick look at Hinata and then closed the peephole. There was a long series of clicks, chinks, and the general sounds of locks being undone, and finally the door slid open.

Kiba and Shino walked in, Hinata following close behind them, and two of the Indigo Witch's goons slipped out. They slung themselves onto Kiba and Shino's horses and began to ride them down the path and around the cliff face.

"We still pick them up at the same place, right?" Kiba asked the guard. "We haven't been here in a while."

The guard simply nodded and held out his hands expectantly. Kiba sighed and took his oversized revolver out of its holster, handing it to the guard. Shino followed suit with his rifle. The guard then motioned for them to move along and returned to his post at the door.

Shino and Kiba led Hinata deeper into the cliff through a series of winding tunnels illuminated only by the odd lamp every twenty or so paces. From somewhere off in the distance Hinata could hear low music, and as they got closer to the source of the sound she could smell incense and perfume.

While traveling to the Coven, Hinata had created a mental image of what she imagined the place to be like – but once she saw it with her own eyes, she realized it was nothing like what she had envisioned. It seemed to be one large cave, connecting to a series of small caves with curtains in the entrances to act as makeshift doors. The light was low, forcing Hinata to strain her eyes to see finer details, and a soft, sensual music rolled across the room from the far corner. Hinata could see men and women pressing themselves against each other in incredibly uncomfortable ways and quickly averted her eyes to the large balcony overlooking the area. Unfortunately, it was filled with more of the same. As she breathed in the smoke she could feel her thoughts swimming – it certainly wasn't just regular smoke, but it wasn't like she could avoid breathing it.

"I forgot how much I loved this place," Kiba said with a grin. The smoke didn't seem to be affecting him, or if it was he was just hiding it well.

"That's funny," Shino said. "I had forgotten how much I hated it."

"You're just being lame," Kiba said, making no move to hide the fact that he was busy checking out one of the "workers". "Are you sure we can't buy a dance Shino? Just one dance?"

"You do realize that we're only here because we desperately need money, right?" Shino asked. Kiba groaned, but fell silent as a delicate voice, almost a purr, came from behind him.

"Here are my boys," the voice said.

The Indigo Witch – for that's the only person it could possibly be, Hinata had no doubt – was tall, blonde, and utterly flawless.

It looked almost like she had been sculpted – perfect legs, perfect face, perfect chest, perfect everything. Her skin was tanner than Hinata would've expected from someone who lived underground and her eyes were a gentle shade of light blue that belied her predatory nature.

The way she moved – well, Hinata had never seen anything like it, and she found it more than a little disconcerting. The Witch walked in a way to deliberately guide the eye to her waist and chest, and the thin, deep purple silk robe she was wearing did little to hide her body.

Kiba bowed deeply and took the Witch's hand in his own, gently kissing the back of it. "M'lady," he said, and his voice held none of its usual rough edge. "So nice to see you again."

The Witch giggled to herself and Kiba smiled a small smile. Hinata recognized it as a joke that the two had had for so long that it was almost a ritual – the maids back home had similar jokes that they indulged in when they thought nobody was looking.

Kiba stepped back as Shino stepped forward, the olive garbed rogue simply nodding to the Indigo Witch in a way that was only barely polite. The Witch gave a coy, teasing smile in return, but she failed to faze Shino, who simply shoved Hinata forward.

"Here she is," Shino said, his voice carefully neutral. "Just like we promised."

"Yes, I can see," the Witch said, running a hand down Hinata's bare arm. Hinata suppressed a shudder at her delicate, almost spidery touch. "Eastern girls. So delicate. Men will pay through the nose for just an hour with her."

Hinata swallowed and looked back at Kiba and Shino. Shino's eyebrow was twitching and Kiba seemed to be leaning forward, his eyes narrowed, but when they realized she was watching they looked away and began to relax.

"The money," Shino said, staring up at the ceiling. "We'd like that now."

The Witch smiled and gently took Hinata's fingers in her hand, turning and gently leading the Hyuga girl towards the back of the room. "The money. Of course. I promised you quite a bit, didn't I?" She laughed softly. "But she's worth every last penny. I love her eyes, don't you boys? You don't see anything like those out here in the West."

The crowd parted as the Witch led them into another tunnel, careful to give the Witch plenty of space. Hinata could feel her heart beating like crazy as she descended deeper into the earth, but she found it difficult to keep her thoughts coherent enough to feel real fear. Everything had sort of a dreamy, hazy quality, and Hinata was half convinced that she would soon wake up to a hot breakfast in a comfortable bed back at home.

She had barely any idea of what was going to when she stumbled into what she could only assume were the private quarters of the Indigo Witch. It was as dimly lit as the rest of the Coven and dominated by a massive…bed.

Hinata felt something push her, hard, in the back, and suddenly she was facedown on top of an impossibly comfortable mattress for the first time in what felt like eternity. It was all she could do to not to fall asleep then and there, and it was nearly impossible for her to roll over to her back to see what's going on. But somehow she managed to do it, squinting her eyes in a vain attempt to get rid of the haze that seemed intent on blocking her vision.

The Witch stood above her, counting out bills and handing them to Shino. Kiba was in the doorway, fidgeting back and forth – his eyes flicked all across the room, looking anywhere except Hinata.

When the Witch finally counted out the last of the bills she glided over to where Hinata was lying, lightly pressing a long, delicate finger against Hinata's cheek. "You boys run along now," she said, her voice so low it was almost impossible to make out. I'm going to…introduce our new friend here." She drew Hinata to her feet and leaned in close, their lips only a hair's width apart.

Then Hinata heard the door shut and was immediately thrown, almost violently, back on the bed. "Stay there," the Witch said. None of the low, sultry teasing remained in her voice – now it was hard, firm, business like. "In half an hour, take a shower and walk back to the main room. Find a girl named Rika – she'll run you through your duties. And if anyone asks, I gave you the best thirty minutes of your life." She vanished around a corner, and Hinata laid her head back on the mattress and tried to clear her thoughts.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Did she give it all?" Kiba asked, taking off his hat to scratch the top of his head.

"Looks like it," Shino replied. He placed the envelope in his jacket pocket and adjusted his glasses. "Let's get out of here. I don't want to spend any more time in this place than absolutely necessary."

"Yeah, definitely," Kiba said. He felt one of the waitresses brush up against him – entirely unnecessary, as the room wasn't crowded and she could've easily gotten out of the way. He swatted at her irritably, and she smiled demurely in response.

Kiba scowled. Fucking unnatural is what it was. Women weren't supposed to take swats lying down. They were supposed to throw things at you, or at least shout. He wondered if any of the girls working here had ever raised their voice without being paid to.

He sniffed the air once. His sense of smell had always been good, unusually good, but for some reason he had never bothered to really smell the Coven. He pushed past the perfume and incense hanging in the air like a cloud and instead focused on what it was covering – what was underneath it.

It stank of sex and other things, violence and concoctions Kiba would rather not know the name of. He stumbled once, and immediately felt Shino grab him, silently supporting him.

"I uh…I'm starting to forget why I like this place so much," Kiba said after a moment. His best friend simply nodded, eyes hidden behind his dark glasses.

"She won't last long here," Shino said as they made their way up the twisting corridors to the entrance. "A place like this…it changes you."

"Did it change us?" Kiba asked.

Shino shrugged in response.

"I remember the first time Asuma brought us here," Kiba said. "Years ago. Remember that? Damn, we were just kids. And everything was smoky and dim and I'm pretty sure I passed out."

"A whore stole your wallet," Shino said.

"Yeah, that happened," Kiba said with a small smile. "That's what they are, aren't they? We call them workers and girls and waitresses, but they're all just whores. They give you drinks until you're dead asleep, and then they steal your wallet." He tried to remember the name of the whore that had stolen his, but couldn't. He couldn't remember her face either. She had had a fantastic set of tits though. Absolutely wonderful.

Shino nodded wordlessly, and Kiba realized with a start that they were back at the entrance. The beady-eyed guard stood in front of them, their guns in hand. He handed Shino his rifle and Kiba his revolver – the Inuzuka took comfort in the familiar weight in his palm.

"Anything else?" The guard grunted. Kiba looked up at him, and for the first time in a long time, he was completely sure about something.

"Yeah, actually," Kiba said. "Our delivery back." And then he shot the guard in the head.

The guard slumped to the floor, blood oozing from the oversized wound in his forehead and gathering in a puddle on the floor. Shino arched both eyebrows – screaming in surprise, in his own way.

"Well," he said, "that escalated quickly."

"Fuck this place." Kiba said in response. He flicked his wrist, sending the cylinder of his revolver rolling out into the open. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a bullet and thumbed it into the open slot, closing the cylinder with another flick of his wrist. "We should've burned it down a long time ago."

"Agreed," Shino said, checking the sights on his rifle. "So, what's the plan? We have about twenty seconds before someone comes to check on the gunshot, I'd say."

"I figure we shoot the son'uva bitch comin' to check up on us," Kiba replied. "Then we shoot anyone who gets between us and the Princess. Then we find the Witch, and we shoot her. And then maybe a few more times, for good measure."

"That is easily," Shino said, bringing his rifle to his shoulder and pointing it down the corridor, "your third worst plan of all time." There was a flicker of shadow around the corner, and a moment later a man Kiba didn't recognize came into view, gun drawn. Shino shot him, the high-pitched whine of his rifle ending a split second after the bullets nearly separated the man's head from his body. Shino turned to Kiba and grinned, ever so slightly. "We might as well get down to business."

Kiba's face twisted into a half grin, half snarl, and he took off down the corridor with Shino hot on his heels. He could hear more footsteps, coming to investigate, and as he rounded the corner he raised his revolver and fired three times.

The gun barked three times in rapid succession. The first two bullets missed but the final one found its target, punching through the unlucky guard's chest and bouncing off the wall behind him. He could see two more guards further down the corridor raising their weapons, but before they could fire Shino shot them both. Kiba reloaded the revolver as he ran, firing one shot into the air as he burst back into the main area.

It was complete and utter chaos. Men and women in various states of undress were running back and forth, screaming their heads off and diving under tables. Any organized resistance the guards might've been able to muster was disrupted by the stampede of panicked patrons and workers, allowing Shino and Kiba to gun down the individual gunmen with relative impunity. Kiba couldn't see very well through the smoke, but with everything going on he was able to get close enough to his targets where it didn't matter. Within a few minutes, every guard in the room was dead.

"What in the ever-loving _hell_ is going on out here?!" Came the Witch's voice. Kiba and Shino looked at each other and nodded, and then pointed both their weapons at the general direction of the voice before emptying their magazines.

There was a moment of tense silence.

"Well, you certainly gave it your best shot," the Witch said, emerging from behind an overturned table after the firing had stopped. She held a slender, elongated pistol in one hand and a bottle of sake in the other. "A toast," she said, raising the bottle into the air, "to the only men in years who actually managed to get me off."

Kiba snarled and started to reload, but Shino placed a hand on his shoulder and jerked his head around the room. Kiba looked up and realized that the balcony above was lined with guards, each with their weapons pointed unwavering at he and his partner's heads.

The Witch _tsked_. "And I thought we were such friends. I was your lady, Mr. Inuzuka."

"We were kids," Kiba said, eyeing the guards above him. "We all made mistakes."

The Witch laughed. "So true. So true. But the experiences we had…those were real. And that is why instead of having you slowly chopped to pieces over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to give you the honor of a quick death." She leveled her pistol at Kiba's head and took a swig of sake. "Adieu, old friend."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hinata's mind was slow, sluggish, caught in a state of half-sleep. She found herself unable to remember things that should've been easy – simple arithmetic, her favorite color, her father's face. Everything was blurring together in a strange and not wholly uncomfortable way. She felt warm and numb and even a little content, despite the circumstances.

She was, however, lucid enough to recognize gunshots when she heard them. She moaned quietly and rolled over to see the Witch sprinting out of the room, pausing only to grab a pistol from the bedside table before vanishing around a corner.

Hinata's eyes lingered on the bedside table. Something about that table was important. It was a very nice table. There was a book on top of it, and a pistol, and a glass of what looked like rather expensive alcohol.

Hinata blinked once. There was a pistol.

She heard screams coming from very far away, but barely noticed them. Instead, she focused very intently on the pistol that was lying just out of arm's reach.

More screams. Hinata focused harder. There was something very important about that pistol, and the screams, and the fact that she was now alone in the room with a pistol. If only she could figure out what it was.

She sat up – or at least, she tried to sit up. She was only about halfway there before she fell back to the bed, still staring at the pistol. She moved her arm. It responded slowly, sluggishly, but it responded, and she could see one pale, delicate hand, covered in scratches and dirt, reach for the pistol lying on the bedside table. Was that her hand? It was almost unrecognizable to her.

The hand which was probably hers (but might have been someone else's, Hinata was not going to rule out that probability) fell just a few inches short of the pistol's grip. Hinata frowned and wiggled a bit, inching the hand forward bit by bit until she could feel the cool metal pressing against her fingertips.

Slowly, carefully, she pulled the pistol closer to her until she was finally able to grab it by the grip. It was a small pistol, and fit her (the?) hand fairly well. She examined it for a moment before checking to see if it was loaded. It was.

Hinata had never been very good with weapons. Her father had insisted she learn at least the basics when he had revealed they would be moving out west, but Hinata had not taken to the gun the way Hanabi had. Be she knew enough to get by, she figured, and it certainly gave her a semblance of confidence that she wouldn't have otherwise possessed. She half rolled, half flopped out of the bed, struggling to her feet with a small moan. She wanted nothing more than to fall back into the bed and close her eyes, drifting off into a glorious sleep, but a small part of her realized that if she didn't act now she may never be given another chance to do...something. She wasn't entirely sure _what_ she was doing, to be honest, just that she was doing something that involved walking somewhere with a pistol in her hand.

So she began walking. The sounds of gunfire became louder and more prominent with each step she took – it sounded like the Coven was being invaded. Could it be the bounty hunters Shino had mentioned, come to take her back? She decided not to hope for it. She would most likely only end up disappointed.

She could hear the Witch now, her sultry voice drifting down the corridor, dripping with both scorn and apathy.

"And I thought we were such friends," the voice said. "I was your lady, Mr. Inuzuka."

Hinata stumbled, catching herself on the wall before she fell face first into the ground. Her head was spinning and she felt like she wanted to throw up, but she grit her teeth and pushed forward. One foot in front of the other. Step, step, step, each one carrying her just a little bit closer to where she needed to be.

"Adieu, old friend."

"Wait."

Her voice was scratchy, rough, and quiet, but since the entire room was dead silent it still had the intended effect. Hinata lifted her pistol, pointing at the blurry shape she assumed was the Witch, and then steadied it with her other hand – just like Asuma had taught her.

"Wait," she said again. "Stop."

There were a few long moments of silence. Swarms of colors swam in front of her eyes, and she felt her knees begin to shake – but somehow, she managed to keep her feet.

Then the laughing started.

She recognized Kiba's laugh – it was loud, brash, and mocking. It filled the room, echoing oddly so it seemed like there were maybe a half dozen of him, and almost drowned out the laughter of his partner.

Shino's laugh was more of a chuckle, and even though Hinata had never heard it before, she knew that it was his. It was deep, subdued, and slow, but no less mocking despite that.

"You fucked up, Witch!" Kiba said. "Left the Princess in your room with a gun and now it's gonna bite you in the ass! Ha! Fuck you, I'll say it again, fuck you!"

"The green one's reloading!" Came a voice from somewhere Hinata couldn't see. "Ma'am should we-"

"Hold your fire," came the terse reply. "Hold your damned fire."

Hinata felt a strong, steady hand on her shoulder, and blinked in surprise as she realized Shino was now standing in front of her, a blur of green and black.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly. "The smoke can get to you, your first time."

Hinata groaned in response and sagged forward. Shino caught her, picking her up bridal style and walking back over to Kiba. Hinata could feel herself fading in and out of consciousness, but somehow she managed to get the gist of the conversation taking place between Kiba and the Witch.

"I think we can count this a solid double win, in my book," Kiba said. "We got the money and kept the girl to boot."

"Check your math," came the Witch's response. Her tone was apathetic, but a barely restrained fury simmered underneath. "The way I see it, you've still lost."

There was a long pause.

"The minute you walk out of here," the Witch said, "I'll take the bounty Hiashi Hyuga has on your head and I'll double it. There won't be a man in the West not out for your heads by the time you reach the nearest settlement. You're dead men walking."

"Then how about I just shoot you right now?" Kiba asked. There was a loud click, and Hinata recognized it as the sound of a gun's hammer being pulled back. "Might as well die happy, right?"

"I'll offer you a deal," the Witch said in response. "Leave the girl, take the money. Or leave the money, take the girl. Walk away. And I'll give you a two day head start."

Shino's arms tightened around Hinata. "We…"

"We didn't fight our way back here just to leave her," Kiba said. "Besides, I'm calling bullshit on her little deal. Way too clean. This is the Witch we're talking about, remember?"

"I swear to you," the Witch said immediately. "I swear upon the Sage and the Will. I swear upon the Toad and the Snake and the Slug. I swear upon the graves of my mother and father. I swear upon my honor and the honor of the Coven."

There was another long silence – Kiba and Shino obviously believed the Witch was being genuine. Either everything Hinata had heard about the Witch was wrong, and there was some honor among thieves, or there were simply some things that you didn't swear upon unless you _meant_ it.

"Alright," Shino said. "Kiba, the money's in my jacket pocket."

Hinata felt Kiba's arm brush against her as he reached into his partner's jacket, withdrawing a moment later with the envelope full of bills the Witch had given them earlier.

"Here," he said, and Hinata heard the envelope hit the floor a moment later. It was about that moment she passed out for good, the dark rushing to embrace and drown her in a blissfully dreamless sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hello, hello, hello my faithful. This is the Hermit coming to you from the tippity top of Mount Myoboku to tell you that it is yet another wonderful day on the _right_ side of the Bridge of Heaven and Earth."

Naruto groaned and rubbed at his head, pushing himself into a sitting position while trying to find the source of the noise that had so rudely awoken him.

"Yes ladies and gentlemen, yes, good morning to you all. I know you're all happy to hear my voice again, just as I'm happy to know that all you true believers are hearing what I speak."

Now Naruto recognized the sound. It was the radio – Sakura had it turned to that channel with that retarded old geezer who spent all day "preaching" and talking about the news. Naruto had never listened to more than a few minutes of it at a time, mostly because it was boring and more than a little weird. He reached up and flicked it off before settling back down on the floor and closing his eyes.

Unfortunately, sleep would not return to him. He opened his eyes again and rubbed the sleep from them, slowly taking stock of the room he was lying in.

He could see Sakura sitting at a desk with her back to him, pouring over a large stack of papers and sipping at a large cup of what smelled like coffee. She glanced at him over her shoulder, and upon seeing that he was awake, smiled. She had a really pretty smile. Naruto tried to remember to do simple things, like breathe, and partially succeeded.

"Looks like you're finally up!" She said, turning the chair around to face him. "You've been out for quite a while now. I was afraid I'd put you in an alcohol induced coma for the rest of your life."

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "Nope, I'm all good! Just sleepy. But I don't have any time to sleep – I've gotta get moving!" He leapt to his feet and grabbed his hat, which was lying on the table next to his duster. "Oh man, Sherriff Shimura is gonna kill me. I'm off on my first mission and I haven't done anything but drink and get poisoned."

"I'm sure he'll understand."

"Yeah, no offense, but you don't know the Sherriff. He'd shoot my balls off if he knew what I'd been doing. I was supposed to…" Naruto trailed off and then suddenly smacked himself in the forehead. "I was supposed to radio him when I got into town! Shit! Okay, hold on, I can still do this."

"Naruto," Sakura said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto. Calm down. I have a radio. You can call your Sherriff from here." She smiled again, and pressed a small radio speaker microphone into his hand. "Really. Relax. I didn't save you from poison just so you could stress yourself into a stroke, okay?"

"R-right," Naruto said, momentarily forgetting how to speak as Sakura gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah. Right. Uh-huh. Okay." Still babbling, he began to fiddle with the dials until he reached the frequency for Danzo's portable radio.

"Um…Sherriff Shimura?" He said into the microphone. "This is Deputy Uzumaki, reporting in. Do you read me sir?...Over. Over."

"I read you, Uzumaki," came Danzo's voice from the radio speakers. "What took you so long to report in?"

"Uh, I got shot sir. By the Demon Brothers. I managed to kill one of them, but the other one got away."

"Mm-hm," Danzo said. "We heard about that actually. Didn't know it was you. Which one did you kill, Gozu or Meizu?"

"I, uh, have no idea?"

There was a sigh. "Did he wear his gauntlet on his left hand, or his right one?"

"Oh, right! Definitely right. Cause the other one got me with the left."

"Right," Danzo said. "So Gozu. His bounty is actually slightly higher than his brother's, so good for you. You can collect it when you get home."

"Oh! Thank you sir!"

"It's good that you radioed now actually. I just got a dispatch from the mayor. I'm going to be reassigning you for a few days."

"What? Why?"

"We need you on temporary escort duty. There's a railway engineer working for Hyuga Railroad Corp that was recently attacked and wounded on his way to his next project. He claims sabotage, so your job is to protect him until he reaches the railroad he'll be working on." Danzo grunted. "Come to think of it, we should probably get him a doctor as well, Sarutobi said he was in pretty bad shape."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Actually sir, I think I can help with that," he said, turning to Sakura and covering the microphone with his free hand. "Can I help with that?"

"I…don't know if I should," Sakura said. "I'm not really one for adventures, and besides, you wouldn't want me-"

"Also," Danzo said, unable to hear Sakura, "I should warn you – this engineer's hired Sasuke Uchiha as a bodyguard. I don't like it any more than you will, but-"

"I'm in," Sakura said. "When do we leave?"


	4. Cold Deck

**Book One**

**Chapter IV**

**Cold Deck**

They had rescued her. Hinata for the life of her could not figure out why they had done it, but they had.

Shino's words from earlier in this whole ordeal rang in her ears. _Better a live monster than a dead hero. _Were they really going to die? Had they doomed themselves to certain death just to rescue her? And for the love of the Sage, why had they gone through all of that just to change their minds before they had even gotten out the front door?

She didn't ask any of these questions. Instead, she drew her knees in tighter to her chest, and leaned a bit closer to the fire. She was still dressed in her old white dress, which was now little more than dirt stained tatters around her. A blanket draped over her shoulders allowed her to retain her dignity, at least.

It was the first time she had been at a campfire without her hands bound, but she found little joy in it. It was still cold, impossibly cold, even with the fire right next to her, and the mood was bleak. Kiba and Shino picked silently at cans of some kind of white mush, while Akamaru's big puppy eyes traced the fire's sparks, which rose high into the desert air before vanishing.

Finally, finally, for the first time since Kiba had carried her out of the Coven, Hinata found her voice. "Thank you," she said, her head buried in her knees.

Kiba and Shino said nothing. Hinata peeked one eye out and saw them look at each other, and it was as if an entire conversation was taking place between them without a word being said. It reminded Hinata of her father, who was fond of claiming that everything that needed to be said in a business deal was said before either man spoke a word. It was all in the way you carried yourself.

Finally, they turned back to her. "It…wasn't nothin'" Kiba said, his voice quieter than Hinata had ever heard it before. "Guess we…figured we made a bit of a mistake."

The bravado that had shone through during his confrontation with the Witch was gone, replaced by doubt and uncertainty. It looked out of place on him. Shino seemed to be carrying the perceived defeat with more grace, but Hinata could see where his eyes crinkled around the edge of his sunglasses, and how every once and a while he would reach up and rub his temples when he thought nobody was watching. The ordeal was wearing on him too.

"What now?" Hinata asked.

It was a long time before anyone spoke. "I suppose," Shino said, his usual monotone tinged with exhaustion, "that we have a day and a half before the Witch sends out her dogs. Roughly three weeks after that, our creditors will demand the money they are owed, and when the find that we cannot pay, they will begin hunting for us. And we already have the Marshals, the New Leaf deputies, and half of the West's bounty hunters after us."

"I give us a week," Kiba said miserably. "Maybe less. At least we don't have to worry about that Will-forsake debt anymore." Shino nodded in silent agreement.

"This…this debt," Hinata said. "Who do you owe it to?"

"We never did tell you, did we?" Kiba asked. "Guess we figured you didn't really need to know."

Hinata nodded.

"History…is important," Shino said, almost as if he weren't part of the conversation. "When I die, when you die, when everyone we've ever met is long dead, what'll matter is how well you've preserved our story in the pages of history." He had slipped into a cadence that told Hinata that this was not an idle observation but a memorized line that he had heard long ago.

Kiba swallowed and nodded. The saying obviously had some meaning to him to. Hinata felt like she had heard it before as well, but couldn't remember where. It almost made her think of Kurenai.

"We're the only people that still carry the name," Shino said. "That's why the debt rests on our shoulders, even if we aren't the ones that took it up." He turned to face Hinata, and she could feel his gaze through his dark glasses. "Our story is important," he said. "When we…if we don't make it, our story has to continue."

Hinata nodded very slowly. Shino, apparently satisfied with this response, settled back, laying down and staring up at the stars. His fingers were laced behind his head, elbows out, forming a makeshift pillow for himself.

"Kiba and I have been friends since we were born, really," he began. "My parents were doctors. They owned a local clinic in a small town not far from here. Kiba's mother owned the town saloon."

"We got in trouble lots as kids," Kiba said, picking up as Shino trailed off. "Runnin' around, raisin' hell, that sort'a thing. Bout six years ago we got in our heads that we were gonna be a pair of gunslingers. An Outlaw and a Rogue, roughin' it in the Wild West. So we stole some guns from our parents, some horses from some traders and we set out."

"Naturally, we ran into trouble almost immediately," Shino said. "We attempted to raid a small caravan, but were captured and thrown in jail almost immediately. It was there we met Asuma."

Asuma. Hinata had known an Asuma. He was her father's head of security, a friendly, kind looking man with an earring and quite a few scars. Kurenai had fallen head over heels for him the moment he was hired. But that wasn't important to Kiba and Shino's story, so she stayed quiet.

"Asuma offered to break us out of jail on one condition," Shino continued. "He wanted us to join his newly formed gang, a group calling themselves the Magnificent Six. He said he saw potential in us, and wanted to make us the final members. We accepted. He broke us out of jail and introduced us to our new gang, which he immediately re-christened the Magnificent Eight. We were the youngest members by quite a few years, but nobody seemed to mind."

"We were family," Kiba said. "We grew up with those guys, and they taught us how to ride and shoot and steal, all sorts of things. For five years, we were one of the most notorious gangs in the West. But we were getting in over our heads."

Shino nodded quietly. "One of our members, Hisa, was wounded during a raid. Our medic couldn't heal her, and Asuma got desperate to save her. He made a deal with a very talented, very dangerous, very well connected doctor. His name was Kakuzu."

Hinata was sure she had heard the name before. In the paper, or over the radio. But she didn't dare interrupt now.

"Kakuzu saved Hisa's life, but the price he requested for the service was enormous. We spent all our savings, but it still wasn't enough. He gave us six months to come up with the rest of the payment, or he would come after us. Alone…well, he's tough, but all eight of us together, we were tougher. But he wasn't alone. He had his gang behind him. He had Akatsuki."

"Daybreak," Hinata whispered.

Kiba nodded. "Or the Red Clouds, or Dawn, or any of the other million names people have given 'em. The most dangerous gang alive, now that the Uchiha are all dead."

"To pay off the rest of the debt, Asuma hatched a plan to attack and kill Orochimaru, the leader of the Rattlesnake Bandits," Shino said. "We would kill him, the collect the bounty New Leaf Town had on his head. That would be enough to cover the rest of the debt with plenty to spare. But…it didn't work. Something went wrong; it was like they knew we were coming. Our medic and Hisa both died in the fighting, and the battle attracted Danzo, the Sherriff of New Leaf Town. He rode through the battle massacring most of the Rattlesnake Bandits and, well, us too."

"Somehow, some way, me an' Shino escaped," Kiba said. "We figure the rest a' the Eight died there at Kannabi Bridge. Certainly never heard from 'em again. So now the debt's ours. We've tried to scrape together the money, but it's tough, with just the two of us. You were our last plan. Last chance, I guess." He sighed. "You were our ace in the hole."

"Queen," Hinata said to herself. "Queen in the hole. And I still am."

She stood up, ignoring the pain and tiredness in her legs, and looked down at them. "You…saved me from the Witch. You didn't have to. You could've put all this behind you. Why didn't you?"

Kiba shrugged. "Couldn't leave you there, I guess. Wouldn't have been right."

"Nor would it be right for me to leave you here," Hinata said. Something was flowing through her – a strength, a confidence, a determination she had never felt before. "You have three weeks to come up with the money. It won't save you from the Witch, but you can get Akatsuki off your back, right?"

Shino and Kiba looked up at her, confusion evident on their faces. Hinata smiled. "We're going to get you that money," she said. "We're going to steal it from my father. We are going to rob Hyuga Railroad Corporation."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hinata woke in her bed. The bed was soft, and the room was dark, and she was warm and very tired, but for some reason she couldn't fall asleep. Every time she closed her eyes she would just end up opening them again to stare at the stars Kurenai had painted on her ceiling. They were gorgeous – astronomically correct and incredibly lifelike, they almost seemed to twinkle in the darkness. She had missed those stars.

The thought made her frown. She had missed them? When would she have missed them?

Oh, of course, when they had moved out West. Satisfied, Hinata settled back into the covers, but before she could drift off back to sleep she found herself facing a whole new set of questions.

When had she moved out West? And when had she gotten back?

She frowned and kicked the covers off her. She needed a glass of water. That would help her sleep. But when she slid off the bed to the wooden floor, the lights snapped on, impossibly bright. Hinata, shielding her eyes, realized that this was not her room after all. It was far to small, and no furniture, or even doors or windows. The only things in the room were her bed (which, curiously enough, was no longer there) and a very large old grandfather clock.

She opened the grandfather clock and stepped through to find herself in a desert. A long, paved road stretched into the distance, the blue sky dominated by a too large sun. Hinata began to walk down the road, pausing occasionally to steal a quick glance up at the sun, which seemed to be setting quite rapidly.

After maybe an hour of walking, the sun began to vanish over the horizon, disappearing completely after quite the beautiful sunset. Wisps of orange, pink, and cobalt danced on the quickly darkening night sky, which was completely devoid of moon or stars. Eventually, the lasts traces of light faded, plunging Hinata into utter darkness.

"Hinata," spoke a voice.

Hinata turned and now she was back in her old house, the one out East. She was standing in the kitchen, and everything seemed a bit too large – but when she looked down she realized that it was she who was too small. She glanced towards the mirror and saw a much younger Hinata looking back at her. Gods, the servants were right, Hanabi really did look like Hinata had at her age.

"Hinata," the voice said again. Hinata was sure she had heard that voice before. It was soft and feminine, almost sing-song. She turned to face the speaker.

"Mother?"

For it was her mother. She looked younger than she had in the pictures, more carefree. Her hair was down, instead of done up in a no-nonsense bun, and she wore a casual white dress with a yellow shawl draped over her shoulders.

Hinata had never really known her mother. She had died when Hinata was only a few years old, during Hanabi's birth, but even before that Hinata had seen very little of her. Kurenai had raised Hinata since birth, with some help from Ko, and when Hinata could only remember a few times she had spoken to her mother before her death.

"Oh Hinata," her mother said, striding forwards. She was inhumanly graceful, her feet barely seeming to touch the ground, and when she reached Hinata she bent down and kissed her daughter on the top of the head. The kiss burned like fire, but didn't hurt, and a moment later it flashed cold.

"Mother…" Hinata said again. She felt like she was about to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. Her mother simply ran her hands across Hinata's face, smiling to herself before turning away.

"The eyes have it darling," she said almost sadly. She sat at the dining room table, studying something intently that Hinata couldn't see. "The eyes have it," she said again. "And yours are such a beautiful lilac…"

"Mother, I-" Hinata tried to speak before she could finish her mother waved her hand. The words died on Hinata's tongue, and instead she found herself walking towards her mother, who was still stooped over the dining room table.

When Hinata reached the table she could see that her mother was studying a deck of cards, which was sitting face down. The backs of the cards were white, with golden symbols that seemed to shift each passing moment – a sun, a beetle, a dog. A spiral, a fan, a cherry. A boar, a deer, a butterfly. A target, an X, a fist. A slug, a snake, a sword, a rippled pool. Hinata watched the shifting symbols in fascination until her mother snatched the deck up, shaking her head.

"No, no, no," her mother murmured. "Not right, not right." She laid the deck out again, and this time the backs were black, with six red _magatama _– curved, comma shaped beads with holes in one end – formed a circle around a multi-colored flame.

With shaking hands, Hinata reached out and turned the deck over, so that the front of the cards could be seen. She sensed her mother's approval at the action.

It was a tarot deck – the major arcana, twenty-two cards. Or at least, there were supposed to be twenty-two cards. Hinata knew there were only twenty (though she could not say how she knew).

"Where are the other two?" Hinata asked.

Her mother tutted, springing up out of her seat and pacing the room while wringing her hands nervously. "Now you see the first inklings of the kind of game being played. The Emperor and the Empress unfairly removed from the deck before the cards could even be placed! Bold, bold, but risky. The Challenger grows impatient. He believes the deck is stacked cold." She shuddered. "I am the dealer. I am the witness. My job is to prevent the tampering of the deck. But the players grow restless. I can no longer protect the deck. I can no longer protect the pieces." She touched Hinata's cheek with her fingers.

Hinata tried to speak, but no sound escaped her lips. Her mother returned to the table, picking up a card and throwing it across the room in frustration. "Wrong, wrong! Everything, wrong!" She shouted. "The Lovers split! The Magician wanders off her path. The World, the Fool, the High Priestess and Justice mourn the death of one who would not be a piece! She would not be a pawn!"

Hinata flinched backwards, and suddenly she was standing on an enormous chess set, with pieces several times taller than herself. "You're looking at it all wrong!" Her mother shrieked, appearing from behind an oversized bishop. You see one game where you should see many! Ten was once one, but now Forty-five is nine! More, and yet less!"

"How can more be less?" Hinata asked.

"When more is not in a thing's nature," her mother said. The chessboard vanished, and suddenly they were back at the dining room table, looking at a spread of cards. Not tarots – regular face cards this time. They were arranged in four groups of three and one of four.

"The Jack of Hearts," her mother said, plucking one card from where it sat on the table. "The most important piece, or the least? The Champion removed the Emperor and Empress, but why? To cripple the Jack? So now the Challenger strikes back," she continued, pointing to the two cards the Jack of Hearts had been placed with. "The Queen of Diamonds. The King of Spades. The Jack's destiny is still unclear, but it is there. The stars tell me this. The birds sing of what is to come."

"Mother…"

"I have _failed_, Hinata," her mother moaned, stumbling forward before falling to one knee. "The sanctity of the deck has been put into question. This is no place for an imperfect soul." She reached out and touched Hinata's face again, and this time her touch burned with a cold fire. Hinata instinctively flinched away.

Her mother stopped and exhaled in a long, shaky breath. Hinata could see her breath on the air. She drew her yellow shawl closer around herself and turned away, but not before Hinata could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"No place for an imperfect soul," her mother said again. "And you are so imperfect. So beautifully, wonderfully imperfect. You must not let them destroy you – they will, if you allow them."

When Hinata woke, she was nestled into a sleeping bag, staring up at the stars.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto sat, scowling, in the passenger car of a large train. On any other day, he would be excited to be sitting on a train. He loved trains. They were big, and metal, and went super fast (even faster than a horse, though Kurama would probably beg to differ if he could talk). In fact, practically the only thing that could ruin a train ride for Naruto would be a cute girl he had met (and totally called dibs on) making an idiot of herself over some stupid Uchiha bodyguard-outlaw-_stupidhead_.

The worst part was the way he was soaking it all up like a self-satisfied snake. Sitting there, looking bored, disinterested, refusing to even acknowledge her existence as she threw herself at him. Occasionally his face would flash with tremors of _I really, really, really wish this wasn't happening to me right now._ The smug bastard. Naruto hated his guts.

He even dressed funny. Naruto was dressed like a real Western Hero, with his duster and his bandana and of course, his hat. Sasuke was dressed like a sick parody of a western hero. Instead of a classic leather duster, the Uchiha wore a long, dark blue trenchcoat with an Uchiha fan emblazoned on the back. His hat was the same shade of blue, over-large and with a white feather sticking out of the top at an angle. On his hip he wore an elaborate silver dueling pistol – but as Naruto looked closer he could see that it had been modified somewhat to allow it to hold more than one bullet at a time. He grunted. At least the asshole was practical.

Tazuna, the railroad engineer who was the whole point of this stupid mission, sat at the end of the cart, finishing off yet another bottle of some kind of vile drink that stank to high heaven. Maybe Naruto was still a little hung over, but he didn't think he could stand another four hours of that smell.

He and Sakura had arrived at the train station just a few minutes before the train departed, and met with Sasuke and Tazuna in this very compartment. The Uchiha had cleared it out beforehand, (or maybe Tazuna's smell had done it) and Sakura had immediately set to work patching up Tazuna's wounds. She had been trying to convince Sasuke to shed the trench coat and "let her take a look at him", but Sasuke had so far refused to answer.

Naruto didn't like the smell of this. Sasuke had claimed Tazuna's attacker had been none other than the second demon brother, the one that had poisoned Naruto not two days ago. But last Naruto had heard, the Demon Brothers had been recruited by a larger gang working somewhere out of the swampland to the north. So what were they doing so far south…and why were they attacking Tazuna, of all people? Neither Tazuna nor Sasuke seemed interested in answering what were, in Naruto's mind, very pressing questions.

Finally, Naruto managed to tear his eyes away from Sakura and Sasuke and instead found himself looking at the landscape of the Fire Country speeding by outside the window. They would be in the Wave Confederacy soon enough. Naruto didn't know what lay in wait for them there, but he had the feeling that it was nothing good.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wait outside," Asuma said as they approached the door in the cliff.

"I will not," Hanabi said, her horse trotting along next to Asuma's own. "You have not even told me what this place is, or why we are coming here. I did not agree to being kept in the dark like this."

"No, you agreed to doing what I said," Asuma said, his voice harsh. "I'm not taking you in there. I'm not taking a child in there. Not again." He leapt off his horse as they approached the entrance, his ankle giving a brief twinge of phantom pain as he landed. "Wait outside."

Hanabi didn't look pleased, but she rarely did. "Fine," she said, huffing out a small breath. "I will wait. I trust you will not be gone long."

"I don't plan on it," Asuma said, walking up to the entrance of the Coven and knocking on the door.

_Rap. Rap. Rap rap rap. Rap. Rap. Rap rap rap._

A small peephole opened, and a moment later, closed. The door swung open. Asuma stepped inside.

The guard was a man he didn't know, but it had been a while since Asuma had visited. He nodded to the guard, who nodded back and closed the door before taking Asuma's weapons and storing them in a large locker.

The tunnels smelled like incense and blood. The blood was new. The incense might've been too. Asuma had never really had a nose for the stuff. He made his way through the twisting tunnels until he found the Coven's main room, which for the first time in his life, was empty save for a single girl, staring at a clock.

"Asuma Sarutobi," the Witch drawled. "Or is it Asuma Yuuhi now? It's nice to see you, either way."

Asuma bowed. The Witch chuckled. "Ever a gentleman," she said. "Come. Sit. Count the hours with me."

"What are we counting down to?" Asuma asked as he took the offered seat. He studied the Witch at she watched the clock. She really was lovely. Far to young for him, but lovely nonetheless.

"I gave your two ex-protégés forty-eight hours to get as far away from here as humanly possible. Four remain. Do you think they're far enough away?" She eyed him and smiled.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage," Asuma said. "You'll have to educate me."

So she told him. She told him of Kiba and Shino, and of Hinata. Asuma's heart leapt in his chest when he learned that they had actually sold her to the Witch, of all people – what had they been _thinking?_ (Probably not much with incense in the air, but still.) She told him how they had killed her men, and some of her girls, and held her at gunpoint and demanded the girl back. And she told him about how they had been given two days to run away, run far, far away, and never come back.

"I suppose you'll be looking for them too," she said after she had let the story stew in his mind for a few minutes.

He nodded.

"Why?" The Witch asked. "To join them?"

"No. To bring Hinata back," he said. "What they did…I can understand it. But I can't forgive it."

The Witch laughed. "Oh, oh, oh. Poor Asuma. Caught between his old life and his new one. Betraying the friends he once held so dear." She looked down at her lap. "Sound familiar?"

Asuma swallowed. "Ino, I am so, so, sorry."

"Don't call me that," the Witch spat, her voice full of scorn and bitter rage. "Don't _ever_ call me that."

"You should've come with me," Asuma said. "Why didn't you come, when I offered?"

The Witch laughed. "Why didn't I go with you? Make your six a seven, and then later a nine? Why didn't I follow you to die at Kannabi bridge?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Asuma said.

"I know. But that doesn't make it any less true," the Witch said, looking back at the clock. "The truth is," she said after a moment, "I wanted to come with you. I really did. But I couldn't leave this place. It was my home, even then. The people here were my family, even _her._ She was like my mother. A bitch, but still my mother." She smiled sadly. "And then you came along, and showed me I didn't have to take her shit anymore, and helped me put a bullet in her head. And then you just…expected me to leave."

"I thought you would want to," Asuma said. "I thought you wanted to get away from this place."

"I did!" The Witch shouted, her voice echoing around the empty room. "But I couldn't leave them all here, drugged out of their damn minds, like _fucking_ sheep! They wouldn't have lasted a _day_ without me looking out for them!" She stood, and stared down at Asuma, her pale blue eyes flashing with fury. "I sit here and fucking _stew_ in it, and don't even feel tired. I watch them lose their minds from this incense, from this Will-damned smoke, and I don't even fucking yawn. They lose _everything! _Their smiles, their laughs, their very fucking beings, they lose it to this fucking smoke. And they can't leave. None of them can leave, because that's when the coughing starts, and the vomiting, and the looks on their faces when they realize clean air is fucking poison to them! Or the looks that would be on their faces anyway, if they still had enough fucking soul to _feel_ anything."

"The incense isn't your fault," Asuma said. "Nobody knows where it comes from. It's just always been here."

The Witch spat onto the ground. "Why doesn't it affect me?"

"I don't know," Asuma said, spreading his hands. "You were just born lucky, I guess."

"Born lucky," The Witch said with a snort. "Born lucky. It doesn't affect me, but it still _owns_ me Asuma. Maybe I can breathe clean air. I wouldn't know. I haven't tried in years."

"All you need to do is step outside–"

"That's not the _fucking_ point!" The Witch shrieked, punching the stone cavern so hard that Asuma thought he heard some fingers snap. "I know I can try any time I want. But what if I try, Asuma, and I can't? What if the air is poison to _me?_"

Asuma said nothing. He had a feeling that if he said anything it would just send her over the edge, and she would start shooting. And he didn't know if he would have it in him to stop her.

"I was _twelve_, Asuma!" She shouted. "Twelve years old! And when I killed her, I was the only one who could do her job! One day I was scrubbing dishes, sometimes entertaining the _really _twisted fuckers who stopped by, and then the next day I was fucking running the place!"

She whirled to face him, clutching at her hair and doing her best to cover her quickly reddening eyes. "And then you _left! _Oh, sure, here's a gun Ino, here's how to shoot it! How about you kill _her_, you hate her, right? Oh, you did it, good job! Have fun with your new whorehouse, see you in a year with your _replacements_ in tow!"

Asuma measured his words carefully before he spoke. "Kiba and Shino were never your replacements."

"Who gives a shit if they were or not?" The Witch said, turning away from him. "They're going to be dead soon. In four hours I'm sending out the word, and then half the West will want them dead. Unless…of course…you stop me."

Asuma shook his head.

"Oh come ooooon, Asuma," she said. "I'm about to send out the kill orders on your two boys. The Olive Rogue, the Bronze Outlaw, both of them about to be crushed because I _want_ it to happen. Stop me Asuma!" She shouted, grabbing her gun from where it lay on the table and pressing it into his open hand. "Stop me Asuma!" She shouted, closing his fingers around the grip. He didn't bother resisting – but he didn't pull the trigger either.

Instead, he stood. "Ino," he said, "I am so sorry. For everything." He sighed and let the gun fall to the floor with a clatter of metal on stone. "I have to find Hinata. I _have_ to. I've never been surer of anything in my life. But once I find her, I'm going to try and fix my mistakes. Starting with you. I swear I'm going to find a way to help you."

He turned then, and walked away, leaving her standing in the middle of the room. "I…don't need you anymore!" She shouted after him. "I have a gun! I know how to shoot! What else can you teach me?! I don't fucking _need you!_"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When Asuma emerged, blinking like an owl, back into the midday sun, Hanabi was waiting for him. "How'd it go?" She asked immediately, straightening up on her horse.

Asuma said nothing. She was so damn young.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

Asuma grunted and swung himself up onto his horse.

"Where are we going now?"

"Into town" Asuma said, adjusting his hat to block the sun from his eyes. "I need a smoke."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

AN: Notes can be found in my livejorunal, the link to which is on my author profile page.  
Thanks for reading, and please leave a review telling me what you thought!


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